Monday, February 27, 2012

Eternal Copyright: a modest proposal; Telegraph, 2/20/12

Adrian Hon, Telegraph; Eternal Copyright: a modest proposal:

"Imagine you're a new parent at 30 years old and you've just published a bestselling new novel. Under the current system, if you lived to 70 years old and your descendants all had children at the age of 30, the copyright in your book – and thus the proceeds – would provide for your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

But what, I ask, about your great-great-great-grandchildren? What do they get? How can our laws be so heartless as to deny them the benefit of your hard work in the name of some do-gooding concept as the "public good", simply because they were born a mere century and a half after the book was written? After all, when you wrote your book, it sprung from your mind fully-formed, without requiring any inspiration from other creative works – you owe nothing at all to the public. And what would the public do with your book, even if they had it? Most likely, they'd just make it worse.

No, it's clear that our current copyright law is inadequate and unfair. We must move to Eternal Copyright – a system where copyright never expires, and a world in which we no longer snatch food out of the mouths of our creators' descendants."

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Copyright Cheats Face the Music in France; New York Times, 2/19/12

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; Copyright Cheats Face the Music in France:

"A report commissioned by Hadopi, which has a budget of €11 million and employs 70 people, showed a sharp decline in file-sharing since the system was put in place.

A separate study by researchers at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh suggests that Hadopi has given a lift to legal downloads via the Apple iTunes music store. From the spring of 2009, when the debate over the measure was raging, through mid-2011, iTunes sales rose much more strongly in France than in other European countries.

While there is no proof that Hadopi was responsible, the study says the case for a link was bolstered by the fact that sales of musical genres that suffer from high levels of piracy, like hip-hop, rose much more than sales of low-piracy genres, like Christian and classical music."

Saturday, February 18, 2012

ReDigi, the ‘Used’ Digital Music Store, Stays Alive; New York Times, 2/7/12

Ben Sisario, New York Times; ReDigi, the ‘Used’ Digital Music Store, Stays Alive:

"ReDigi, a marketplace for “used” digital music that is being sued for copyright infringement by Capitol Records, fended off a motion in federal court on Monday that would have shut it down."

Digital Notes: New Charges, and More Details, in Megaupload Case; New York Times, 2/17/12

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Digital Notes: New Charges, and More Details, in Megaupload Case:

"A revised indictment against the file-sharing site Megaupload was announced on Friday, with new charges against the site’s operators and some new details about the investigation."

Saturday, February 4, 2012

G.O.P. Candidates Are Told, Don’t Use the Verses, It’s Not Your Song; New York Times, 2/3/12

James C. McKinley, Jr., New York Times; G.O.P. Candidates Are Told, Don’t Use the Verses, It’s Not Your Song:

"Experts on copyright law said such licenses, usually bought by restaurants and other businesses that play recorded music, do protect the campaign from many copyright complaints, but a politician can still be sued under the federal trademark law for false advertising if the use of the song implies that the musician has endorsed the candidate."

Friday, February 3, 2012

Does Honda Get a Day Off From Paying a ‘Ferris Bueller’ Copyright Fee?; New York Times, 2/3/12

Brooks Barnes, New York Times; Does Honda Get a Day Off From Paying a ‘Ferris Bueller’ Copyright Fee? :

"If you want to sell a car by parodying a 26-year-old movie do you have to pay the owner of that movie a copyright fee?"

Newt Gingrich sued for using Eye of the Tiger as campaign song; Reuters via Guardian, 1/31/12

Reuters via Guardian; Newt Gingrich sued for using Eye of the Tiger as campaign song:

"Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich faces a lawsuit over his use of Eye of the Tiger, the theme song to the movie Rocky III, court documents show."

Petition Targeting Elsevier’s Business Practices Begins to Snowball; LibraryJournal.com, 1/31/12

Michael Kelley, LibraryJournal.com; Petition Targeting Elsevier’s Business Practices Begins to Snowball:

"Timothy Gowers, of the University of Cambridge and a winner of the Fields Medal, criticized Elsevier on his blog on January 21 for charging exorbitantly high prices, obliging libraries to purchase either a large bundle of journals (including ones they do not want) or none at all, and supporting legislation, such as the Research Works Act, that Gowers said undermines open access."

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Rapper K'Naan upset Mitt Romney used his song; Associated Press via HuffingtonPost.com, 2/1/12

Associated Press via HuffingtonPost.com; Rapper K'Naan upset Mitt Romney used his song:

"Rapper K'Naan is upset that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney used his song "Wavin' Flag" during his Florida primary victory speech."